Missing Spring Valley boy found safe

SPRING VALLEY  A 12-year-old boy who didn’t show up for school and was the subject of an intensive search in Spring Valley Monday has been found safe, sheriff’s officials said.

William Patrick Gear Jr., who had been missing since apparently leaving for school at 8:15 a.m., called 911 about 6:30 p.m. from Mount Vernon Street, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Caldwell.

William was taken to the Lemon Grove sheriff’s station, where he was being interviewed by detectives.

“We just want to sit down with him and find out what happened today,” Caldwell said.

Sheriff's officials said Tuesday that the boy initially said he'd been kidnapped, but detectives determined his story was fabricated.

The boy left his home on Ildica Street and was believed to have ridden his blue BMX bicycle to La Presa Middle School. The one-mile route is on well-traveled roads. But he never arrived.

The school called his father about 11 a.m. asking if William had stayed home, and the father immediately became concerned, Caldwell said.

The father went to campus and searched the bike racks for his son’s bicycle, but it wasn’t there. He then called the Sheriff’s Department.

Search and rescue volunteers, aided by the FBI, a sheriff’s helicopter and canine units, combed the area for the boy. He didn’t have a history of running away or ditching school, prompting authorities to fear he was the victim of foul play.